Letting Go
by Panamint
Summary: Little Joe finds six orphaned wolf pups in the woods and decides to raise them. In his room. In secret. Lots of trouble follows.
1. Chapter One

_**Joe's Canine Friends, Part One**_

_**Letting Go**_

_**Written 2/11/04 to 3/15/04**_

**DISCLAIMER: **Nope. I don't even own the plot, should there be one. It was my sister's idea-I had a brain block back when I first started writing _Bonanza_ stories, and she thought of this. So thanks. Again. :)

* * *

"…And don't forget about the paper I want you to write about your summer. Make sure it's at least two pages long, although you may write more if you wish," Miss Jones said. 

"Yes, ma'am," the students in her one-room school-house chorused. Although there was one brown-haired boy in the second row who was sure he could find some way to worm out of the task.

"Alright, then. Class dismissed, and have a good summer!" Miss Jones called after her students as they stood up from their desks and hurried towards the door. She was sure that nobody heard beyond the 'class dismissed' part in their eagerness to get out.

The first one out the door had been Joe Cartwright, known as Little Joe to friends and family. Right behind the ten-year-old had been his best friend, Mitch Devlin. Although Mitch was a year older than Joe, the two boys got along very well.

"Whatcha gonna do this summer besides _chores_, Joe?" asked Mitch.

"I dunno," Joe answered as he mounted his pony, whose name was Starlight. "Maybe play some pranks on Hoss and Adam to keep from dying of boredom. That'd be fun." Joe giggled as he remembered the time he considered it a good idea to put a snake under the covers with Adam, his oldest brother. It hadn't turned out to be such a good idea after all, even if the snake wasn't venomous, and Joe had narrowly avoided getting spanked. He'd have to be very careful not to get caught next time.

After a moment of reminiscing, Joe invited Mitch over to his home, the Ponderosa, to celebrate summer vacation. Little Joe knew that his father would probably have a fit, but he also knew that his pa would forgive him in the end. It would probably mean a few days of sitting uncomfortably, but it would be worth it to have some fun with Mitch.

"Well, actually, Joe, I've kinda been meanin' to talk to you about that for a while, but it just slipped my mind…" Mitch said. Joe could tell this conversation wasn't going to be a happy one.

"So, what is it?" Joe prompted, eager to get it over with.

"Uh, well, my grandmother in San Francisco is sick, see, and my parents agreed to spend the summer with her and I sorta have to go along… sorry. I don't really want to but… you know how it is, right?"

Actually, Joe didn't know how it was. He didn't have a sick grandmother in San Francisco. He didn't even have a healthy grandmother in San Francisco! But he couldn't tell Mitch that he was crushed by his not being there in Eagle Station for the whole summer. Joe could tell that Mitch felt bad enough as it was.

Joe smiled as best he could and said, "Sure, I understand. Have a good time in San Francisco."

"Good time? Are you kidding? I'm gonna have to spend all my time in a smelly hospital room with a grouchy ol' lady and you're telling me to have a good time?" Mitch said rather loudly. Joe laughed and glanced around to make sure that nobody had overheard their conversation.

"Well, bye," said Joe. "When will you be coming back?"

"The day before school starts again—at night, I think," Mitch replied.

"So I'll see you in September, then?"

"I guess so. Bye."

Joe waved as they went their separate ways. Joe couldn't believe that he wouldn't see Mitch again for three whole months, especially since they had never been away from each other for that long before. Joe figured that he would have to think up some really good tricks to pull on his brothers so that he'd have something decent to tell Mitch when he came back.

Joe rode off towards home alone. Normally, he'd have his sixteen-year-old brother, Hoss, to ride home with. But since Ben had allowed him to skip the last day of school in order to help with some chores around the ranch, Joe had no one.

He had ridden for a while and was now on Ponderosa land. It was the biggest spread in Nevada territory, and Joe was very proud to live there. Adam had told him once that he could remember a time when it was so peaceful and quiet, a right pleasant place to live. "Then," Adam had said. "You were born and everything changed." Joe had been so mad…

Suddenly, a shot interrupted Joe's thoughts. Starlight got a little nervous at the sound and Joe just barely managed to stay on. Then he rode off in the direction that the shot had come from.

As he rode, Joe wondered two things. First, what had the person shot? And second, what was that person doing on Ponderosa land? Joe knew that if his father, Ben Cartwright, were ever to find out that someone was hunting—or even worse, poaching—on his land, he definitely didn't want to be around when they met.

Joe rode after the echoing noise as fast he could. Of course, Starlight couldn't go very fast and Joe got impatient when it took a full ten minutes just to find the spot where someone had obviously been poaching.

There was a dead wolf right in the middle of a clearing.

Little Joe leapt off his horse and slowly walked up to the still form of what had once been a very majestic and beautiful animal. He bent down and rubbed the wolf's neck to make sure that it was really dead (which probably wasn't the smartest way to find out). Luckily for Joe and unluckily for the wolf, the canine was really, truly dead. He sighed. Even though wolves were infamous for stealing people's chickens and other such things, Joe hated the sight of a dead animal. But there was nothing he could do about it now, so he remounted Starlight and prepared to head for home.

Just before he rode off towards the house, Joe heard a whining sound. He stopped and listened. There it was again—a soft, high-pitched whining sound. Joe dismounted and walked over to the bush where he thought the sound was coming from. Wondering what it could possibly be, Joe pushed the branches aside. They scratched at his arms, but he seemed oblivious to the pain when he saw what was making the whining sound.

It was six tiny wolf pups, each no bigger than the size of his hand, and they were all crying for their deceased mother.

In a way, Joe knew how the pups felt. When he was five, his own mother, Marie, had fallen from her horse and died. It had been the worst day of his short life, to see his mother so limp in his Pa's arms…

There wasn't much that Joe could clearly remember about Marie, now that he was ten. He _did_ recall that she had been very beautiful and had sung him to sleep every night. Joe also remembered the times she would take him onto her lap and tell him all about her native New Orleans.

Joe, suddenly coming back from his reverie, glanced around for any sign of the pups' father. There was no one there except the wolf's body. Joe sighed. What would the wolf pups do? They would surely starve to death, if a larger animal didn't get them first. Joe shuddered at the thought and figured that there was only one thing to do—take the wolf pups home. The question was, _how_?

Little Joe's conscious began an all-out war. The angelic side told the boy to bring the pups home and tell his father about what had happened. Of all people, surely Pa could think of something?

The devilish side said that Joe should bring the pups home and try to raise them in secret. They would make great guard dogs, even better than the blood-hounds there were around these parts. And, if he trained them right, maybe they wouldn't bite anyone and be content with living off the Cartwrights' table scraps. To Joe, this seemed quite probable.

In the end, Joe's devilish side won out—as it usually did. So he scooped the six crying, squirming wolf pups into his arms and gently dumped them in his saddle bags along with his school books and the math test he had just barely passed. True, Joe wasn't the worst of students, but he certainly wasn't the best, either.

Joe finally mounted Starlight and headed for home, still listening to the soft, muffled cried of the pups in his saddle bags.

* * *

Me: Hehe, methinks this is going to be a lot of trouble for Little Joe...

Dick: You wrote it... don't you know?

Me: Oh, everybody, this is Dick. He's my Personal Reviewer Replier, or PRR, for short. I stole him straight out of the Batman genre.

Dick: I'm only doing this because she threatened to help Catwoman escape from the Pen if I didn't.

Me: Did NOT! Anyway, review, please! I like reviews, but I haven't been getting many lately. I wonder why...?


	2. Chapter Two

**_Letting Go_**

**_Chapter Two_**

**DISCLAIMER: They're _still_ not mine. They belong to Paramount (I think) and, if anybody from Paramount happens to be reading this... BRING BACK KIRK! Why did you kill him under a _stupid bridge_? Of all places!**

**Sorry, I just had to get that out. Now onto the next chapter.**

**NOTE: Special thanks go to Spots on a Pony, who explained how it was possible to determine the sex of wolf pups. I changed some of the content of this story so it would make more sense. Thank you! 8)**

* * *

Joe slowly put Starlight in her stall. He looked at the other animals in the barn and, for the millionth time that year, noticed that his was the smallest. It was quite logical that he had the smallest horse, since he was the youngest member of the Cartwright family. But this fact didn't stop Joe from being jealous of his two older brothers for having such fine, tall, strong mounts. Joe was always the last person to get things in his family, and it made him very annoyed to think that he was always last, had always been last and probably always would be last. 

The good news was that he had never had to worry about hand-me-down clothes: Adam's were too small to fit Hoss, and Hoss' were much too big to fit Joe. Joe doubted if he—or anybody else—would ever grow big enough to fill Hoss' clothes.

Joe lifted the saddle off of his pony and gently laid it to the side so he could check on his wolf pups. On the ride home, he had begun to think of the little beings as 'his'. It was such a good feeling to finally do something completely different that his brothers had never even thought of doing. Adam was too serious to ever want to bring orphaned wolf pups home, and Hoss, although he loved animals, would most likely ask for Pa's permission before doing anything as drastic as that.

When he opened the flap of his saddle bag, Joe saw that the pups had fallen asleep. He smiled. They really were very cute, especially all curled up with their tails tucked in.

Joe took his lunch-pail and, careful not to wake the sleeping wolf pups, he put them in the pail and covered them with the still-spotless napkin the cook, Hop Sing, had packed that morning. Joe rarely used his napkin. It was partially due to his neatness while eating, but mostly because he just hated having to wipe his mouth with a piece of cloth all the time.

Trying to act as normally as possible, Joe walked up to the front door and pushed it open. He dropped his school books and hat on the credenza near the door. He made his way over to Pa's desk and dropped the B- report on the wooden surface. _Boy, is this ever my lucky day! _Joe thought as he scurried quietly for the staircase. _Nobody's here, and you can get away with a lot when nobody's home! I wonder where they are… probably down at the corral, breaking horses._

As Joe tipped the pail over slowly and watched the pups spill out onto the floor without even waking, he thought about the tedious job of horse-breaking. Joe really wished he could quit school and work full-time on the ranch like everyone else, but Pa wouldn't even hear of it until he was sixteen at least. "Getting a good education is very important, Joseph," Ben had said. Joe had sighed in resignation, but had refused to admit that his Pa was right because he believed just the opposite. If he was going to work on a ranch with horses all of his life, why was it so important to know who the 4th president of the United States had been, anyway? It wasn't as if the horse could talk and ask about a thing like that.

Joe just sat there, staring for about a half-hour. Watching the pups crawl blindly around the room was much more interesting than he had imagined.

"Hey, Joe! Supper's ready!"

Joe growled as Adam yelled at him. He hated being yelled at.

"Okay, okay! Keep that black shirt of yours on already!" Joe shouted back. He couldn't help but giggle when he heard Adam mumble something about being respectful to your elders and 'when I was your age…'

Just as he was about to go downstairs, Joe rediscovered the wolf pups. He couldn't leave them lying on the floor like that when anybody could walk in and notice them. And if Joe knew his Pa, he would be wondering what the heck six wild animals were doing in his bedroom. So Joe stashed them in his top drawer for the moment. The pups began crying again as they were placed among the boy's shirts. Joe tried to get them to be a little quieter, but they insisted upon crying, so they did.

It suddenly occurred to Joe that they might be crying to let someone know that they were hungry. But what did you feed a baby wolf anyway? Maybe they drank milk, like a lot of other baby animals. But was the milk supposed to be hot or cold? How did you give the milk to them? When did you know to start feeding them solid foods? Joe sighed. Maybe this wasn't going to be as easy as he thought.

Joe realized that he was going to be late for supper if he dawdled any longer. So he shut the drawer half-way, grabbed his lunch-pail, hid it behind his back, and hurried out the door.

"Hey Pa, Adam, Hoss," Joe greeted as he leapt down the last few stairs. He instantly regretted the action, for the lunch-pail that was hidden behind his back smashed into his rear end—hard. Joe tried not to let the tears of pain show as the pail stung his backside.

"Hello, Joe," replied Ben. "And please don't jump down the stairs like that. We built them so you could use them, not jump over them like a grasshopper."

Joe found this was very good advice, especially since his bottom still smarted where it had made contact with the pail, and he nodded. With a move he considered to be discreet, he inconspicuously slipped the lunch-pail onto the credenza and joined his family at the table. He was very cautious while taking his seat, not wanting to appear hurt, but not wanting to hurt himself again either. When Joe was finally seated and grace was said, supper began.

Joe's first move was for the mashed potatoes, but Hoss got to them before he could.

"Hey!" Joe protested.

"Ya gotta be quick, Shortshanks," Hoss chuckled, using his special nickname for the much-smaller Joe. He spooned enough for two boys his age onto his plate.

"You're telling _me_," Little Joe grumbled, annoyed. By the time he got the potatoes, there was barely enough to fill the wooden serving spoon. After shooting an evil glare in Hoss' direction, Joe helped himself to the last of the potatoes.

Then the conversation began.

"I saw that test on my desk," Ben said. "Not a bad score, Joe, but try not to be so careless next time."

"Okay, Pa," Joe answered, trying not to seem impatient or angry. He wanted to be on good terms with Ben up until the time he told him about the pups that were stashed away in his top drawer. It wouldn't be for a while yet, Joe knew, and he wondered how he could ever stay out of trouble long enough to achieve his goal.

"Have a good last day at school?" asked Adam. Joe made a face.

"How can anyone ever have a good day at school?" Joe asked him.

"I agree," Hoss said. "Let's face it, Adam; you're the only one of us who actually enjoyed school!" Turning back to Joe as Adam concentrated on the meal in front of him, Hoss added, "So did ol' Miss Jones give any of those reports?"

Joe practically choked on the piece of fried chicken that had been in his mouth. "Uh…" he stammered, not wanted to reveal the truth just yet. If Pa didn't know about the report, then he wouldn't have to do it, right?

Joe desperately hoped that Hoss wouldn't say anymore or that someone would change the subject, but he continued, "I don't know why teachers gotta be so nosy all the time. Why cain't they jist mind their own business? I don't really wanna do one o' those dad-burned reports, so please tell me she didn't give one of them?"

"Um…" Joe laughed nervously. Unfortunately, Ben had already noticed the tell-tale signs that his youngest son was hiding something.

"So," he said, and Joe knew what was coming. "Did Miss Jones give you a report or not?"

"Well…yeah…she wants us to write about what we did this summer…and she says Hoss has to do one too!" Joe quickly added. Hoss made a face at Joe, who looked at him with a devilish grin on his face. It made him feel a little better to know that he wasn't the only person in this family who was forced to do a dumb report. Next year, when Hoss quit school, it would be a different matter. Ben ignored the little exchange between Hoss and Joe and continued.

"Then I suppose you should start thinking of something to do so you will have something interesting to write about?" Ben asked, although Joe knew it was more of a command than a suggestion.

"Yes, sir," he and Hoss chorused softly. Joe had suddenly lost his appetite and asked to be excused. Ben nodded and Joe hurried up the stairs.

-

_What I Did This Summer_

_By Joe Cartwright_

Joe stared down at the mostly-blank piece of paper in front of him. He was at a complete loss as to what he should write. _Of course there's nothing to write, _common sense told him. _You've only been on vacation for five hours!_ This did not seem like a very true statement to Joe, although the time on the clock that hung on his bedroom wall proved it to be true. In the space of five hours, Joe had had more excitement than he'd had in his entire life—he had found a dead wolf, brought six orphaned wolf pups home without permission, nearly broke his bottom with his lunch-pail and hadn't let just one, but both, his brothers find out about the illegal visitors in his top drawer!

-

After Joe ran upstairs to his room that evening, he opened the drawer and peered at the wolf pups. Once again, they had fallen asleep. Their little bodies were rising and falling with each breath they took, and once in a while, one of them would squirm a bit or kick someone else's head to make more room for himself. Unfortunately Joe also noticed that, on the shirt the pups weren't sleeping on, a yellow stain had appeared.

Joe scrunched up his nose and took the shirt out by his fingertips. _Why me?_ he thought. Pa would definitely be annoyed if he found out about this, but Joe was really worried about Hop Sing. Hop Sing did all the washing in the Cartwright household, and he was bound to notice something peculiar about the stain, tell his employer, and then Joe would really be in for it. What he had to do was—

"Whatcha doin', Joe?" asked a voice from the doorway. Joe spun around. It was Hoss. Joe quickly hid the soiled shirt behind his back. That was when Joe's infamous—and very short—temper flared.

"First you steal all the mashed potatoes at dinner and then you come into my room without knocking? What's this world coming to?" Joe demanded angrily.

"Sorry, but I saw ya slip yer lunch-pail downstairs and was wondering what it was doin' upstairs in the first place," Hoss said.

Joe knew he had to think fast if he wanted to salvage the situation. "Uh… well, after school, I kinda forgot to leave the lunch-pail downstairs… yeah… and I just figured—"

"Now you know just as well as I do that that's a lie," Hoss interrupted. Joe gulped. "Now tell me what really happened."

Joe reluctantly started from the time he found out where Mitch was going for the summer, and by the time he was finished, Hoss was staring at him with wide eyes and a slack jaw.

"You've gotta be kiddin' me!" he cried. Joe shushed him, not wanting anyone to hear about this.

"I'm not kiddin'!" Joe hissed back. "Take a look and see for yourself."

Joe picked up the wolf pups and gently put them on the floor so Hoss could see. The pups instantly began crawling around, softly whining to themselves. Hoss, being a great animal-lover, smiled broadly and picked one of them up and began to stroke its tiny head. Joe thought that now would be a very good time to swear Hoss to secrecy, since he seemed to be smitten with the little wolf pups already.

"Hoss, ya gotta promise me that ya won't tell nobody," Joe said.

"I promise, little brother, I _promise_!" Hoss declared emphatically. Joe gave him a very big, angelic smile as a reward. Then Hoss asked, "So, have ya named 'em yit?"

"Named 'em? Hoss, I only found them a few hours ago."

"Good. Then I kin do it with ya," Hoss said. "Let's see…this one I'm holdin' right here could be…Sam."

"Sam!" Joe fairly yelled, and then reminded himself that nobody was supposed to know about this. Joe took the pup from Hoss' hands and tried to see the 'Sam' in his eyes, although this was impossible since his eyes were still closed. "He don't look like a Sam."

"Well, then YOU think of a better name!" challenged Hoss. He was looking directly into his brother's eyes, knowing full-well that Joe hated it when he did that.

"Oh, okay, you win," Joe sighed. "His name's Sam."

Then a sudden thought struck Joe.

"Hey, Hoss?" he asked. "What if one of them's a…a _girl_? What if the one we just named 'Sam' is a girl, too? Hoss, what if their all girls?"

"There's an easy way to find out, little brother. Pa taught us about that ages ago; iffen ya had remembered..."

"Oh, yeah... right."

No more than a minute later, the two Cartwright boys had determined that three of the wolf pups were girls and the remaining three were boys.

"Let's think of think of the boys' names first. Boys' names are easier," said Joe.

"Not fer me," Hoss said. "I like the name Martha."

"Why?"

Hoss' face turned red and Joe giggled.

"I know why," he said. "Martha's the name of the girl you wanna take to the dance next Friday!"

Joe couldn't take it anymore. He began to laugh very loudly, and Hoss gave him a shove backwards so that Joe began rolling around the floor. Pretty soon, both boys were rolling across the floor, narrowly avoiding the curious wolf pups, trying to kill each other. Hoss was winning when they heard Ben shout up the stairs at them to calm down. Joe giggled as he sat upright again.

"I don't know why you and Adam go all daffy for people like Martha," Joe said at last. "She's _just _a _girl_."

"Someday you'll understand, little brother," Hoss told him.

"Whatever you say, Hoss, whatever you say," Joe replied, not believing a word that Hoss said. "Okay, back to naming. Let's see, I guess this one could always be… um…"

"I don't know about you, but the name Montague has always appealed to me," Adam put in. Joe felt the color drain from his face, but Hoss didn't quite seem to get it at first.

"Naw, I don't think the name Montague is… a… very…" Hoss and Joe turned around and saw their older brother standing in the doorway, arms crossed, with a very annoying smirk on his lips.

"Hey, how'd you get in here?" Joe demanded, suddenly regaining his courage.

"Oh, I don't know," Adam replied, stepping into the room and approaching his younger brothers. "It is just _slightly _probable that somebody _could_ have left the door open so that the whole wide world could see what was going on inside, of course…"

Joe glowered at Hoss, whose face turned red again.

"So what are you doing, or is it supposed to be a secret?" Adam asked in a sarcastic tone.

"Well, it _was _a secret," Joe said, shooting venomous scowls at Hoss every now and then. "And now I suppose you'll run off and tell Pa. We'll both get spanked and he'll make us return these poor orphaned wolf pups to the wild where they'll either starve to death or get eaten by a bigger animal. Then I'll hold you responsible for six murders for the rest of your life. And do you know how long life is, Adam?" Joe glared at him so ferociously Adam almost had to laugh.

"I agree with Joe," Hoss said. "I'll blame you for their murders, too."

Joe, in stark contrast to the look he had just given Adam, looked up into Hoss' eyes with a very large, appreciative grin. Hoss noticed and smiled back. But Adam wasn't buying it.

"Don't give me any of that," he said. "The Ponderosa is no place to be raising wolf pups, especially without our pa knowing about it. Besides, they could get into a lot of trouble, and you won't be able to keep something like this a secret for very long—especially with that shirt hidden behind your back." Adam pointed to the shirt which Joe had unsuccessfully tried to hide behind his back.

"Please don't tell!" Joe cried desperately. "We've already begun to name them!"

"So I heard," Adam said dryly.

"PLEASE!" Joe begged. He hated being reduced to begging, but this conversation wasn't going very well and he needed to do something dramatic to change Adam's mind about the pups.

"Yeah," added Hoss. "Please, Adam?"

"And you bein' so smart and all, I bet you could help us take real good care of the pups," added Joe with an angelic look.

"Flattery will get you nowhere," Adam told him. Joe frowned and looked at the ground sadly. Adam gazed at Joe's expression for a minute. Every ounce of common sense he had told him that Joe was faking it to make him keep this a secret. His brain told him to ignore his youngest brother's display and tell Pa about the pups. But, despite all the things going in one direction, Adam went in the other.

"But…" he began. Joe looked up hopefully. "I suppose I could keep this a secret…"

"Wow! Thanks, Adam!" Joe exclaimed. He had never expected Adam to agree to keeping something so big—and so illegal—a secret. But, just as quickly as his mood had changed from forlorn to hopeful to happy, it changed to suspicious as he wondered what conditions Adam had placed on the agreement and asked him if there were any.

Adam was on the verge of saying 'no' when he decided to ad-lib a few conditions to his agreement.

"Well…" he thought for a minute. "You have to name that one over there Montague," Adam started. It wasn't a very good condition, but it was the best he could think of at the moment.

Joe sighed, clearly hating the name, but consented just the same.

"Also," continued Adam. "You can't expect me to do anything about that shirt of yours."

Joe glanced at the soiled shirt again. He made a bit of a face at the prospect of having to sneak that into the wash and then prevent Hop Sing from seeing it. But Joe supposed he could always make Hoss do it and agreed to Adam's second term.

"Anything else?" Joe asked in a sarcastic tone. Adam either noticed and ignored it or didn't detect it at all, Joe wasn't sure which.

"No," Adam said. He'd probably regret blowing such a great opportunity later, but right now that was all he could think of.

"Good. Thanks," replied Joe. He turned back to the wolf pups and added, "So what do we name the rest of them?"

"We can name another one of those three girls you were discussing Juliet," suggested Adam. He had already begun a Shakespearean theme with the names, and his brothers didn't even know about it!

"Okay. Finally, a decent name," Joe mumbled as he picked up the one that was supposed to be Juliet. He had seen the look in Adam's dark eyes when suggesting that name. He knew something was up, but couldn't quite figure out what it was, so he let it drop for now.

"How about that one over there?"

After twenty more minutes, Joe and his two brothers decided on the names Sam—short for Samantha—, Montague, Martha, Juliet, Tomahawk and Flapjack (because he stole a flapjack out of Hoss' back pocket). After that, all three Cartwright boys went their separate ways.

-

Joe continued to stare down at his paper. There were so many things to write about, yet so few. So many exciting things had occurred that day, yet Joe could not write any of them down for fear of someone—namely Ben—finding out about it. Joe sighed and stuck the paper in his desk drawer. He checked on the sleeping wolf pups. They hadn't had anything to eat since Joe found them, and he was beginning to get worried. Hoss had mentioned that the pups ate often, and they usually had milk. Hot or cold, nobody knew, but Adam figured it was most likely luke-warm. With all these thoughts swimming around in his head, Joe pulled on his nightshirt and went to sleep.

* * *

**Me: Well, I guess having to go back and correct was a good thing, because I forgot the reviewer replies to Chapter One! I blame it on this website and on my reviewer replier, Dick.**

**Dick: I object!**

**Me: Don't be a wimp.**

**Dick: I am NOT!**

**Me: Then do the replies already!**

**_Reviewer Replies_**

**Jas-TheMaddTexan-**Puppies _are_ very cute, aren't they? And I especially like the fact that, for once, this story is Joe-torture and not Me-torture!

**Sister Golden Hair-**The Almighty Panamint (yeah, right) told me to thank you for the nice review, and to post another chapter of "Once Upon A Summer" ASAP!

**Spots on a Pony-**Thanks for the info: while Panamint did do some research on wolf pups, she never actually found out how to sex one. She hopes it's more historically accurate now. 8)


	3. Chapter Three

_**Letting Go**_

**_Chapter Three_**

**DISCLAIMER: Me? Own _Bonanza_? HA! I wish!**

* * *

Later that night, Joe was awakened by a soft crying sound. He groaned and tried to block it out with his pillow, but the whining just got louder, and the last thing Joe wanted was to have it get so loud that everyone in the whole house woke up. So he very reluctantly dragged his tired body out of bed and shuffled over to the drawer where the noise came from, still rubbing his sleepy eyes. 

"Whassa matter?" Joe asked, stifling a yawn. He looked down and saw the six wolf pups crying in the dim light of a full moon. "Don't tell me you're scared you're gonna turn into werewolves, cuz that only happens to us people."

The wolf pups still cried. Joe's assurance of werewolf-immunity had done nothing to make them feel better, since that wasn't what they were worried about.

Joe sighed. "Okay, okay, I'll try to get you something to eat."

Still yawning and stretching, Little Joe made his way to the door and quietly opened it. Then he slipped into the hall and crept down the stairs, being very careful to skip the second-to-last step, since it squeaked rather loudly. Joe made his way silently into the kitchen and dumped some milk into a small bowl. Still in his bare feet, Joe went out to the front porch and set the milk bowl on the top stair to warm up a little more in the heat of the summer night.

Joe looked up at the full moon. It was big and bright, giving off enough light to read by, Joe figured. Well, except if you were reading from one of Adam's books by Shakespeare with the miniscule print. Those were the most boring things Joe had ever laid eyes on. There were way too many dictionary words, and what did 'deny thy father and refuse thy name' mean anyhow? Who in their right mind would want to deny that their father really _was _their father? Joe knew that he would never, ever do a thing like that. His Pa was the most important part of his life. Why would Juliet Capulet want to make a fellow like Romeo Montague…

A scowl crossed Joe's small face. Adam had duped him earlier that day when they had been naming the wolf pups! Oh, yes, Joe had been duped, but he wasn't about to let his sneaky older brother get away with it!

Joe stuck his finger in the bowl and, satisfied with the temperature, brought it back upstairs.

In his room, Joe placed all six wolf pups on the floor. Joe dunked his finger in the bowl and let the pups suckle on it until his finger was dry. Then he'd dip it in again and begin the process all over. Pretty soon, half the bowl was empty and all six pups were sound asleep. Joe smiled a little at them and went to dump out the milk and return the plate. When he came back, he put his new pets into their drawer and went back to his own bed, thinking of how he could make Adam pay for his little name-deception.

By morning, Joe had thought of something really mean to do to his brother. Unfortunately, Joe knew that he'd never get a chance to play his trick. If he did, Adam would undoubtedly get mad, and would possibly even change his mind about keeping the wolf pups a secret. The thought sat rather uncomfortably with Joe, especially since he knew that _he_ would be the one sitting rather uncomfortably for a few days if Pa ever found out what they were doing. So, when Joe saw Adam for the first time that morning, he settled for a good pinch on the arm and an "I know what you did, meanie". Before Adam could say a word about it, Joe was already down the stairs and at the breakfast table.

"Morning, Pa," Joe greeted pleasantly.

"Good morning, Joseph," Ben replied. "Have a good night's rest? I thought I heard some noises in the middle of the night. Was that you?"

"Uh… yeah, Pa, I just went to get a drink," Joe explained. He felt a little guilty about lying to his father, but soon convinced himself that it hadn't really been a lie since he hadn't said who the drink was for.

"Mornin' Pa, Joe," Hoss said as he sat down at the table. "Say, I heard some purty peculiar noise last night. Was that you, little brother?"

"I just went to get a drink," Joe repeated. He couldn't believe Hoss would ask a question like that in front of Pa. The last time he had asked a question like that, they both wound up having to write reports for school over the summer! Joe gave him a warning look that was missed by Pa and Adam.

The Cartwrights began eating—well, most of them. Before Joe could get the eggs, Hoss grabbed them first.

"Hey! Not again!" Joe yelled in exasperation. Hoss laughed at the evil scowl on his brother's face. Joe sighed and drummed his fingers on the table impatiently. By the time Hoss gave him the plate, there wasn't much left. Joe groaned and scooped the rest of them onto his plate. This day wasn't going very well so far, and he only hoped that it wouldn't get worse.

Unfortunately for Little Joe, it did.

It was Joe's day to feed the chickens. It usually wasn't a very bad chore. As a matter of fact, Joe actually liked feeding all of Hop Sing's chickens and watching them peck madly at the food and, if need be, each other. Today, the chickens had found something _else _to peck at.

"Hey, those are my favorite boots," Joe complained as a chicken tried to make breakfast out of his footwear. "Eat your food, not my feet, please!"

When the chicken didn't listen, Joe swung the bucket at her. She hurried off, squawking all the way.

"Serves you right," Joe said to himself. He bent down to see how much damage had been done to his shoe. There was a small hole near the big toe. Joe muttered to himself, not realizing that the chicken who had done the damage had decided to get revenge. She took advantage of Joe's stooping position and pecked at his backside.

"OUCH!" Joe yelped, leaping into the air and clutching his bottom. It was still sore from yesterday's meeting with the lunch pail, and that chicken had only made things worse.

"Whaddya do that… oh, it's you. The one who wanted to eat my boots," Joe mumbled, rubbing his bottom. Suddenly, he heard laughter from the barn. Joe looked up and saw Hoss laughing at him.

"It's not funny!" Joe cried. "That hurt!"

"So I heard," Hoss chuckled. He walked out of the barn and came over to Joe. "I also heard ya talkin' to that chicken o'er there. I hate to say it, but I think yer goin' crazy."

"If you hate to say it, then don't!" Joe snapped. He picked up the pail and stormed inside the house, leaving Hoss to laugh to himself. Joe put the bucket down on the kitchen table very forcefully and stomped upstairs. He wasn't looking where he was going and bumped straight into Adam, who had been coming down the stairs.

"Hey, Joe," said Adam.

"Leave me alone, Adam!" Joe said. "I'm in no mood to be criticized!"

"I wasn't going to criticize you," Adam replied irritably. "I just want to show you something. Come on."

Adam led the way to Joe's room, and Joe trailed not far behind.

"What are you doing?" Joe demanded as Adam locked the door behind them and pulled the top drawer out. "You aren't supposed to be in here without my permission, even if I _did_ share a secret with you."

"And it's that secret I want to show you," Adam explained. He placed the drawer onto the floor and scooped all the little wolf pups out. Joe watched in delight as he realized that their eyes were open.

"Wow!" Joe said, picking one up and looking into its deep, dark, serious brown eyes. They reminded him of Adam's penetrating stare, and he knew by instinct that this one must be a boy-pup.

"Say, what's this one's name again?" asked Joe.

"Um…" Adam mumbled, speechless. They all looked the same. How were they supposed to tell one from the other?

"You mean you don't know!" Little Joe cried in panic.

"Well, do you?" retorted Adam. Joe shook his head wordlessly. Why hadn't they seen this problem yesterday afternoon, when Hoss had suggested naming the nearly-identical wolf pups?

The two sat in silence for a minute. Then Adam got an idea. He took a sheet of paper and a pair of scissors from his brother's desk and cut the paper into six long strips. Then he wrote something on each strip while Joe looked on curiously. Adam picked up some glue and began to wrap the strips around the pups' necks.

"What do you think you're doing?" inquired Joe as he saw Adam gluing paper around the precious wolf pups' necks.

"I'm making collars with their names on them," Adam said. "I made them a little big so they can grow into them. We'll be able to tell them apart easily from now on."

It didn't take long before the pups were used to their new apparel. As a matter of fact, they seemed to be enjoying themselves. Montague kept pawing at Sam's; Juliet would sniff Martha's and Tomahawk's; and Flapjack loved to lick everybody's.

"Good idea, Adam," Joe grinned as he watched the pups.

"Thank you," said Adam. "By the way, have you fixed that shirt of yours yet?"

"Whoops! I forgot!" Joe exclaimed, smacking himself on the forehead. He quickly regretted the action. Now, not only did his bottom hurt, but he also had a headache.

"You'd better do it fast. Make sure Hop Sing doesn't notice that stain, otherwise we'll all be in for it—especially you," Adam reminded him, unlocking the door and leaving the room.

"You always do have something positive to say, don't you?" Joe hollered after him. He looked at the soiled shirt on his bed, sighed and took it downstairs. Today was wash day, and he had a plan.

"Hey, Hoss, would you take care of the wolf pups? I'm gonna distract Hop Sing while you heat up the milk," Joe said.

Hoss, who had long since wandered inside after Joe's little incident with the chicken, looked confused. "How do I feed 'em?" he asked.

"Just let them suck from your finger until they don't want any more. Then dump the rest out the window," Joe instructed as he walked through the kitchen and outside, where Hop Sing was busily washing the family clothing.

"Hi, Hop Sing," Joe greeted with a friendly wave, still hiding the shirt behind his back. The Cartwrights' long-time cook—and often times, friend—looked up from his work, smiled warmly at Joe and went back to scrubbing somebody's pants.

"Hey, uh, by the way," said Joe, trying to be nonchalant. He showed Hop Sing the shirt. "I found this upstairs in my drawer. It's kinda dirty."

Hop Sing made a move to take it from Little Joe, but the boy quickly said, "I'll do it."

Hop Sing gave Joe a very confused look. Was it really true that Joe Cartwright was offering to do chores? He usually put up a fuss about doing his regular chores on a beautiful summer's day like today… come to think of it, Joe put up a fuss about doing his chores on _any _day! However, he moved to the side and allowed Joe to work next to him.

-

Meanwhile, upstairs, Hoss was having his own problems. His fingers were just a little too big to fit comfortably in the pups' mouths, so neither party was getting anywhere.

"Come on," groaned Hoss. "Jist stretch yer mouths a _little_ wider? Please? Fer me?"

Try as they might, the pups couldn't get their little mouths to go any larger. The six pups and Hoss struggled for a time—and all getting extremely frustrated—when Joe walked in triumphantly with his newly-washed shirt. He had had to wash three other shirts and a jacket along with it so as not to arouse suspicion, but it had been worth it.

"Hey, how's it goin'?" asked Joe. Hoss glared at him.

"Okay, I guess we're having problems then," Joe muttered. He stuck his shirt back in the drawer and pulled out his oldest shirt for the pups to go on when they needed to. He walked over to Hoss and assumed feeding duties.

"Wait'll they get a bit older, big brother," suggested Joe. "Then you can do it."

"But… don't they git _teeth _when they're older?" gulped Hoss.

"Well, yeah, but you're so big an' tough that it won't bother ya none. Right, Hoss?" Joe looked up at him with his most angelic of expressions. Hoss had to admit that it would be hard for anyone to say no when a ten-year-old as innocent-looking as Little Joe was staring admiringly up into your face.

Joe could see that Hoss was already in his power, so he said, "Could you dump the rest of the milk out for me? Just throw it out the window as far as you can so that none of it stains the roof."

"Okay," agreed Hoss. Only after he had stood up did he realize that his brother was taking advantage of his kind and gentle nature—again. It was too late to go back on his word, though, so he flung the leftover milk out Joe's bedroom window as far as he could.

There was an exclamation from outside. Joe ran to the window and looked down. He laughed. So did Hoss. Not far from the house stood Adam, his hair tinted white from the milk. The whitish liquid dripped down onto his shirt, dying his shoulders various shades of gray. The oldest Cartwright brother glared up at the two youngest Cartwright brothers and stormed over to the water trough to clean himself up before Pa noticed.

* * *

**Dick: Well, that was... interesting...**

**Me: That's the nicest thing you've ever said to me!**

**Dick: Don't let it go to your head.**

**Me: I won't. But only if you do the replies.**

**Dick: I do them anyway!**

**Me: Just go!**

**_Reviewer Replies_**

**Sister Golden Hair-**Thanks! And Panamint reviewed "Just as Long as We're Together", just to let you know.

**Dick: Boy, that was easy. Can I go now?**

**Me: No.**

**Dick: Why not?**

**Me: Because you are my current Muse and I need you.**

**Dick: ARRRGH!**


	4. Chapter Four

_**Letting Go**_

**_Chapter Four_**

**DISCLAIMER: Haha! I'm back! I'll bet you thought you could get rid of me THAT easy, did ya? Well, TOO BAD! I'm still alive and kickin' with tons more to post!**

**Oh, yeah. I forgot the disclaimer (sheepish grin). I don't own them any more than I did before... boy, I'm running out of interesting ways to do a disclaimer... I'd better go meditate... (walks off to meditate)**

* * *

"Do you have to go?" asked Joe. He had been enjoying staying on the ranch all the time and being with his family. But now, only four short weeks into his summer vacation, his Pa had to go to San Francisco on a business trip. 

Ben noticed the very pathetic expression on Joe's face and squatted down in front of his youngest boy.

"I'm afraid I have to, son," he said. "But I'll only be gone a week." Noticing that Little Joe still looked very upset, he added, "Tell you what—as soon as I get back, we'll go on a fishing trip, just the two of us. Okay?"

Joe grinned a little and nodded, wondering how he would convince Hoss to assume full responsibility of the pups while he was out fishing for the day. The pups had been growing fairly quickly over the past two weeks. They had grown a full five inches each, except Tomahawk who had grown only four inches. It was soon becoming obvious who was the runt of the litter. No matter, it was getting harder and harder to keep the rapidly-growing pups a secret from Hop Sing and Pa.

"Bye, Pa," the three boys said in unison, waving as their father climbed aboard the stagecoach.

"Bye, Joe, Adam, Hoss," Ben waved back. The stagecoach driver flicked the reins and had soon disappeared around the corner of Main Street.

The remaining Cartwrights just stood there a moment, staring at the cloud of dust the stage had created just down the street. After the dust had cleared, Adam spoke up: "We'd better get back to the ranch. We've left those wolf pups alone long enough as it is, and who knows what damage they could have done in this amount of time?"

"Yeah," Joe agreed, reluctant to leave the place where he had last seen Pa.

All three of them climbed onto the wagon—Adam up front and Hoss and Joe in back—and rode towards home.

-

Joe and his brothers were sitting on Joe's bedroom floor, watching the pups tug on each other's ears and scamper playfully around. Adam sighed.

"I can't believe I'm sitting here watching six wolf pups play this close," he said.

"In the_ house_," added Hoss.

"I can!" Joe piped up brightly. "Isn't it great?"

"Well, it was before, but now I ain't so sure this was a good idea," Hoss admitted.

"What do you mean?" asked Joe, frowning.

The two older Cartwright boys glanced at each other nervously. Neither wanted to hurt Joe's feelings any more than necessary.

"Well… tell 'im, Adam," Hoss prompted.

"Tell me what?" Joe questioned, beginning to feel more than a little uncomfortable. What were his brothers talking about? They didn't _seriously _want him to tell Pa, did they?

"It's like this, Joe," began Adam. Joe was surprised to notice that he sounded very worried. "For the past few nights we've been hearing wolves howling outside. I think it would be best if you were to… well… let them go."

"WHAT!" cried Joe, his voice going up an octave.

"Now here us—_me_—out," Adam continued hastily. "No matter how hard we try, humans can never teach wolf pups to hunt as well as real wolves can. And if we release them when they're older, they'd never survive. You don't want that to happen, do you Joe?"

Joe was speechless for a moment. The pups were only six weeks old, and they wanted him to leave them with a wolf pack that might not even accept the young pups?

"R-Release them?" Joe finally managed to choke out.

"Well, ya didn't plan on keepin' em forever anyway… did ya?" asked Hoss.

Joe didn't really want to admit that he did indeed have an idea like that in mind, so he didn't say anything.

"Besides, them wolf pups are growin' teeth, and Pa's startin' ta wonder why I have bandages all over my fingers," Hoss announced. He held up his hands, displaying the bandage-covered index and middle fingers. "I'm plumb runnin' outta fingers ta feed them little critters with!"

"You have to let go, Joe," Adam said.

Much to everyone's shock, Joe cried out, "NO! You CAN'T let them go so soon! They're just pups still, and they need us! If you don't wanna help, thenfine! But I'M keepin' them till I feel they're ready to leave!"

Joe ran out of the house to the barn, mounted his pony and galloped away as fast as he could, leaving his brothers to look out the window at him in surprise.

"Now what?" mumbled Adam, turning away from the window. "He can't possibly keep those pups a secret for very much longer, and if we don't send them out with that wolf pack soon, the pack will leave and we'll lose our chance."

"But we cain't jist up and take the pups without Joe's permission," protested Hoss. "After all, it was him who done started this whole thing and let us in on the secret."

"True, but those pups have to go back to the wild soon, or they'll die," said Adam. Hoss nodded mutely, still replaying the past ten minutes in his mind.

-

Joe rode Starlight as hard as he dared. It wasn't very far to his mother's grave, and he certainly didn't need to ride so quickly to get there, but the speed of the horse beneath them helped to clear his mind a little. Riding fast always made Joe feel better, but it made his pa a little nervous. After all, hadn't Mama died of a broken neck after riding _her_ horse too fast?

Joe finally arrived at the well-kept grave of Marie Cartwright. Joe tethered Starlight to the nearest tree and knelt down before the tombstone that read:

_In Loving Memory_

_Marie Cartwright_

It was such a lovely place, in the shade of several tall, majestic pine trees and overlooking the lake. It was Joe's favorite place to think whenever he was upset, confused or angry about something. And right now, Joe was all three.

"How could they even suggest such a thing?" Joe asked his mother. "They're my pups and I found 'em and I'm keeping 'em. I love 'em so much, Mama, but I don't want them to die, either. Oh, please help me, Mama!"

Joe felt tears stinging in his eyes and quickly brushed them away.

There was a slight breeze and the flowers that Pa had planted near the grave that spring swayed gently, as if Marie had actually heard her son's cry.

"I don't know what to do," Joe continued in despair. "I really want them to stay with me, but Pa would never let me. Even Hoss is abandoning me! If only you were here, Mama; then you could help me convince Pa and Adam and Hoss that I _could_ keep them. I remember that Pa would always listen to you. What should I do?"

Joe knew there wouldn't be any reply from his mother, but discussing his troubles out loud as if she really were there made him feel a little better, and sometimes he even thought of a solution that would never have occurred to him otherwise.

Little Joe just sat there for a few more minutes, gazing at his mother's tombstone and the lovely flowers that surrounded the area. Joe wished he could just sit there forever, but he knew he had to get back before his brothers started to worry. Besides, now that Adam and Hoss were no longer on his side, he had full responsibility of the pups. And if he wanted them to survive, he needed to feed them. Now that they were getting their teeth in, they were mostly dependent on raw meat, which was harder to sneak out of the kitchen than the milk had been. But Joe knew that he could pull it off, with or without his brothers' help.

He mounted Starlight and headed for home. He rode slowly this time, contemplating how, when and if he should release the pups. And if he didn't let them go, how would he convince Hop Sing and Pa—_especially_ Pa—to let him keep wolves in the house? Maybe they could stay in the barn?

Joe was home. He dismounted Starlight, put her in her stall and walked into the house as if nothing had happened.

Adam was sitting in the living room, reading, when his youngest brother came home.

"And where have you been?" asked Adam, sounding annoyed. The truth was that he had been getting kind of worried about Joe. After all, the kid had been so upset when he had left. But Adam couldn't let on that he was a pushover at heart, so he took on an annoyed appearance instead of a worried one.

"Out for a ride," Joe told him vaguely as he walked into the kitchen and put some chicken into a bowl. Joe had noted when he rode up that the chicken that had so rudely inflicted damage upon his bottom the other day was no longer there, and Joe suddenly realized what had become of it. Despite himself, Joe couldn't help but feel a little sorry for the obnoxious chicken—but not sorry enough not to carry the bowl up to his room and feed the chicken to the wolf pups.

Although the pups didn't really need to be handed food any more, Joe still liked to rip off a piece for them and hand it to them. Today was no exception: as all the pups crowded around the relatively small bowl to get their share, Joe would manage to dig his hands in there some way to tear off a chunk and let a pup eat from his hand.

"Here ya go," Joe said kindly, holding out a piece of chicken for Flapjack. The pup savagely tore it from Joe's hand, giving the boy's fingers a good nip.

"YOW!" Joe cried, quickly putting his fingers in his mouth to stop the bleeding and pain. Although his saliva did put an end to the blood, his fingers still throbbed. He took them out of his mouth and examined them; they were abitred and were already beginning to swell a little.

"What happened?" asked Hoss. He had heard his brother's cry and came in to make sure that everything was alright.

"Flapjack nipped me—by accident," Joe said, still shaking out his sore hand while the pups continued to gobble up the chicken.

Hoss took Joe's hand gently and examined the bite.

"It don't look too bad," Hoss announced. "But _now_ do you see why me an' Adam was tryin' ta git ya to put them wolf pups where they belong? They're gittin' too big fer us now."

"NO," Joe said vehemently. He yanked his hand away from Hoss and continued to nurse the injured area himself.

Hoss knew he was pushing his luck with his short-tempered brother, but he continued anyway: "Joe, it's like Adam said—ya gotta let go."

"I said NO," Little Joe repeated, examining the bite.

Hoss sighed and stood up. "Alright, brother, they're yer pups. But I ain't responsible for 'em no more. You hear me?"

"But you promised!" Joe cried.

"All I promised was that I wouldn't tell, and I won't. But I didn't say nothin' about promisin' ta help ya raise 'em," Hoss declared. He left the room, leaving Joe to stare after him. He had no idea how betrayed Joe was feeling at that moment.

"Well, who needs him?" Joe muttered to himself. "You didn't mean to nip me, did ya, Flapjack?"

The pup just continued gorging himself on the rest of the meat. Joe sighed and, for the first time since that last day of school, he thought that he just might be wrong.

* * *

**Me: Before we even start an argument this time, do the replies.**

**Dick: I can't.**

**Me: Why not?**

**Dick: There's nothing to reply to.**

**Me: WHAT!**

**(checks)**

**Me: Awww, no reviews. (sob)**

**Dick: Can I go now?**

**Me: Maybe, I think I still need you for another story I'm working on.**

**Dick: Not again!**

**Me: Yes, again! Now get over here!**

**(drags him out of the room)**


	5. Chapter Five

**_Letting Go_**

**_Chapter Five_**

**DISCLAIMER: .ti daer ot tnaw uoy fi rorrim a ot pu siht dloH .meht nwo t'nod I**

* * *

"Now where are they?" Joe asked himself later that afternoon. He had accidentally left his bedroom door open and had just noticed that the pups were no longer in the security of his room. 

"Sam, Montague, Juliet, Tomahawk, Martha and Flapjack! Where ARE you!" Joe called. There was no answer.

"Dadburnitall!" Hoss yelled from downstairs. Joe gulped. He knew he was lucky that Pa and Hop Sing were out of town so that Adam and Hoss were the only ones home to get mad at him.

Cautiously, Joe made his way downstairs.

"What?" he asked warily.

"Them dad-burned pups chewed straight through my gun-belt, my wallet_ and_ my scarf!" Hoss complained rather loudly.

"Your scarf? How did they get your scarf? It's the middle of June, for Pete's sake," Joe said.

"They dug their way inta my drawer!" Hoss exclaimed.

"Well, sorry about that, Hoss, but now I gotta find 'em before Pa and Hop Sing get back," Joe said.

"They're all sleepin' on the settee. Now you better git 'em back up to yer room before I tell Hop Sing ta make a stew outta them!" Hoss told him, storming out of the room with his destroyed items. Joe, fearing his angry brother might do just what he said he would, scooped up the sleeping pups and took them up to his room.

-

Adam lay in his bed that night. He was pretending to read Shakespeare, but he was really thinking about Joe and the wolf pups. Adam knew that his brother couldn't possibly keep them forever. Joe would understand that in the morning… well, maybe not. That boy was as stubborn as the day was long, and when he thought himself to be right, he would just keep thinking that forever, if he had a mind to. But he _had _to realize he was wrong sometime, right?

Adam looked up from his book to the sound of a howling wolf from that nearby pack. He got up and saw the silhouette of a wolf on top of a hill. Then he heard the responding howls of several other wolves, but they were so close that Adam soon realized exactly who was howling. The hushed voices of Hoss and Joe soon proved this theory, and he went into Joe's room.

Sure enough, the six pups were all near the window, howling their heads off. Joe and Hoss were arguing over what to do about it.

"You're just lucky that Hop Sing is visiting one of his many cousins for the rest of the week," Adam said, butting into the heated conversation.

"What's it to you?" demanded Joe angrily, speaking loudly to be heard above the din.

"Your pets are keeping me awake, that's what," Adam said in annoyance. He left out the fact that he had been reading and had been staying awake on purpose. He figured that if he _had_ been trying to sleep, the pups _would_ be keeping him up.

"Well, if you two hadn't_ abandoned me_," Joe said, emphasizing the last two words. "Then maybe the three of us could have thought of something by now! But no! You had to ditch me and the pups to save your own worthless hides!"

"Now you listen here, Joe…" Hoss began.

"Joe," Adam interrupted in a much calmer voice—although he didn't feel very calm at the moment. "You can't keep the pups for very much longer. Look at them: they're practically full-grown now. You have to let them go."

"How many times do I have to tell you two that I'm NOT going to let them go?" Joe yelled.

"You don't have to shout!" snapped Adam. "They've already quieted down. But Joe, you listen good—if you don't figure out something to keep them quiet at night we're all going to be in hot water!"

Adam stormed from the room with Hoss not too far behind. Joe just glared after them, still outraged, and herded the wolf pups back to the corner of the room they used as a bed.

Meanwhile, outside in the hallway…

"How can he not see that those pups are no longer the little babies he brought home and are ready to go back to the wild?" Adam thought aloud. "He's becoming as annoying as those wolves are."

"Aw, come on, Adam," protested Hoss. "You know that Joe's been with 'em ever since their mama died. He's probably just havin' a hard time lettin' go and wants ta keep 'em here as long as he can afore releasin' them."

"You mean like Pa with us?" Adam smirked.

"Guess so," grinned Hoss.

Adam suddenly became serious again and sighed. "Well, let's get to bed and see if we can catch any sleep before those darn wolves begin howling again."

"Good idea. G'night, Adam," Hoss said with a yawn.

"Night, Hoss," Adam replied. He shut the bedroom door behind him, blew out the kerosene lamp and went to sleep.

-

The next day was even worse. Tensions were rapidly growing between Little Joe and Adam. Once again, Joe thought how very, very lucky they were that Hop Sing was visiting some of his relatives and that Pa was out on a business trip to San Francisco for the week.

It started out like a normal Wednesday. Joe slept late, and by the time he came downstairs, his older brothers were just finishing up breakfast.

"And where have you been?" Adam demanded, exasperated.

"Sleepin'. Whaddya think?" snapped Joe, sounding just as aggravated.

"Oh, no," mumbled Hoss, looking up at the ceiling.

"Oh no what?" Adam asked.

"I can tell this is gonna be one o' those days when you two are constantly givin' each other the 'evil eye', and are yellin' at each other, and when ya ain't at each other's throats, ya won't say nothin' ta nobody 'cept ta shoot a few insults at each other," said Hoss. "I'm leavin' before I'm caught in the middle o' that."

True to his word, Hoss stood up from the table, put on his hat and the remains of his gun-belt, and marched out the door, slamming it behind him.

"Will you ever learn not to slam the door!" Adam hollered after him. He sighed as Joe sat down across from him, trying to get as far from Adam as he possibly could. After glaring at one another for a minute, Joe reached for the bacon and, pleased that there were a couple of strips left, helped himself to the remaining meat.

As the pair ate in silence, Adam had an idea. He knew Joe would probably be furious with him—as if he wasn't already—but it had to be done. Now, how would he pull something like this off without attracting too much attention…?

All through the day, Adam thought about his idea. And the more he thought about it, the more he considered forgetting the whole thing. It was such an awful and sneaky thing to do to his sensitive youngest brother, but he had to do it. Adam tried to convince himself that, not only would it solve his wolf problem, it would also be a get-back for all those tricks Joe had played on him over the years. And those pups needed to be with their kind, anyway.

Still, no matter how hard he tried, Adam couldn't shake the feeling that he was about to become a first-class Benedict Arnold to his brother.

That evening, Adam was in the kitchen, making the hot chocolate he needed for his plan. He dumped some powder in one of the cups of chocolate, left the cups to cool in the kitchen and walked into the living room where Joe was sitting on the settee, staring absently into the fire.

Feeling like a bit of a rat, Adam sat down next to Joe. Joe scooted away from him. Adam finally said, "Listen, Joe, I want to… apologize… for the way I've been pushing you into returning those wolf pups to the wild lately."

Joe stared at him as if he were a ghost. "Really?" he managed to choke out. Since when did older brother ever apologize for anything?

"Really," Adam said, crossing his fingers behind his back. Not that he really believed in the old crossing-your-fingers trick, but it helped to ease his conscience, if only the teensiest bit. "And I made some hot chocolate for the two of us," he added.

"Really?" Joe said again. "Thanks!"

Adam sighed almost inaudibly and said, "You're welcome."

He stood up to get the drinks from the kitchen table. He didn't feel very good and figured that he should have just let Joe take care of the pups and stay out of it while he had the chance. But it was too late now, so he took the cups of chocolate into the living room and handed the one with the dissolved powder in it to his brother.

"Maybe you're not so bad after all," Joe grinned as he took the first sip. Adam felt his stomach churn. His brother had been so quick to forgive him for pushing him into releasing the pups. How would he feel after Adam completed what had to be done?

"And I'll feed the pups after you're finished that, too," Adam added, still feeling guilty. How was he managing to be so cruel and keep a straight face about it? Apologizing and being nice and everything, just so he could betray Joe once again? What kind of a brother was he? Adam had thought that it would feel good to get rid of the pups, but not this way.

"Good," said Joe upon hearing Adam's offer. "Thank you."

It was only a few minutes later when Joe's eyes began to droop.

Taking the half-empty cup from Joe, Adam suggested, "You look kind of tired. Why don't you go on up to bed? I'll take care of everything."

_Oh, boy, will I ever!_

"Good idea," replied Joe drowsily. "See ya in the morning. Don't forget to feed the pups."

As Adam watched his littlest brother trudge sleepily up the stairs, he thought about exactly how he should tell Joe after all was done. Deciding to just forget about it until morning, Adam took a bowl of beef up to Joe's room and waited until he heard the boy climb into bed. Then, opening the door ever so quietly, Adam entered. He placed the bowl before the ravenous pups and watched them devour the meal. Joe was still asleep, just as he had planned.

After the pups were done with their meal, they curled up on top of each other and prepared to go to sleep. But Adam opened the door to Joe's bedroom a little wider, intriguing the pups' interest. They all began to march out into the unknown—the rest of the house. As they passed, Adam would tear off the collars he had made. It seemed like only yesterday he had made the paper collars for Joe's wolf pups.

Once they were all out the door, Adam carefully herded them downstairs and out the front door. The pups seemed a little shocked when Adam shut and locked the door behind them all. They hadn't been outside since they were born.

Adam looked up at the moon. It was bright enough to see by, which was good because he didn't want to risk waking up Hoss with a bright lantern from the barn.

Out of nowhere came a wolf's howl. The six pups' ears perked up. They seemed alert.

The wolf howled again. The pups responded but didn't quite seem to know what to do afterward. Should they follow the howls or go back to their old familiar home? Adam didn't know what to do either. He just hoped that the pups would choose to go back where they belonged.

Three more howls went by before the bravest, Montague, decided to venture out into the wilderness on his own. Flapjack and Sam followed. Pretty soon, all the pups were running full-speed toward the forest of pines. A short thirty seconds later, Adam had seen the last of the pups disappear into the darkness, never to return.

* * *

**Dick: That was so unrealistic and out-of-character, it's almost scary.**

**Me: But it's good.**

**Dick: Wellll...**

**Me: Yesssss?**

**Dick: No it's not.**

**Me: Just do the replies or else!**

**Dick: Or else WHAT?**

**Me: Or else... or else... just do them, okay!**

**_Reviewer Replies_**

**Kusiner-**Yeah, Joe probably would have known, but it wouldn't have been as interesting if he had... grounded for life... yup, that sounds about right! ;-)

**Dick: Can I go now?**

**Me: Yes.**

**Dick: For real?**

**Me: Yes, I'm working on a _Trek_ fic right now and don't need you. I'll call you if-**

**(Dick has already run off at warp speed.)**

**Me: Sigh.**


	6. Chapter Six

**_Letting Go_**

**_Chapter Six_**

**DISCLAIMER: Haha... yeah right... (checks) Oooh, I haven't updated this since MARCH? I'm evil... Dick, remind me to remind you to spank me once I've updated.**

**Dick: I'll be more than happy to do it now...**

**Me: When I say later, I mean LATER. That way I have time to worm my way out of it... XP**

* * *

"They're gone!" 

The cry was enough to put Adam's stomach in knots and he pushed aside the breakfast he had hardly even started.

"Gone?" repeated Hoss, who had yet to lose his appetite. Joe had just come running down the stairs as fast as his legs would carry him to tell his brothers the news. "Who's gone?" he added.

"The pups! They're gone!" Joe yelped. "All I found were their collars lying on the floor."

Joe held up a handful of paper strips.

Hoss took them from his brother and examined them closely.

"It looks as if they was torn off," Hoss observed. "By a PERSON."

Joe instantly gave Adam a suspicious glance. Adam gulped. He could never remember being this nervous, even just after he had gotten into big trouble with Pa.

"Uh… I think I'd better have a talk with you, Joe—alone," he said. Hoss took the hint and quickly left the room. Even if Adam hadn't told him in so many words to get lost, he probably would have left anyway. Hoss didn't like seeing fur fly between anyone, especially when it was his brothers' fur that was doing the flying.

"Okay, whaddya do?" Joe demanded as soon as Hoss was gone.

"Well, Joe, it's kind of a long story…" began Adam.

Joe began to feel more than a little fearful of the fate of his beloved wolf pups. "Why do I get the feeling I'm _not_ going to like this?" he muttered.

"I get the feeling you're going to _hate _it," Adam said. Joe sat down at the table and looked at Adam expectantly.

"It's like this," Adam said. For the next twenty minutes, he explained all about how he had gotten the idea to putthe powderin Joe's hot chocolate and give the pups their last supper while he was still under the effects of the powder. Adam finished up by telling his now very angry, very hurt younger brother about how he had released the pups into the wild.

There was an awkward silence. Adam spoke up, "I had to do it, Joe. I'm sorry."

"You said that last night," Joe observed shakily.

"Joe, I—"

"How could you, Adam? How could you lie to me?" Joe asked in a choked voice. He was having difficulty not to cry in front of his brother. "After I told you over and over again that I didn't want you to let them go without my say-so, you went ahead and did it anyway. And you _lied!_ How could you do this to me? I'll never forgive you for this, Adam! Never!"

Joe bolted out of the house and to the stable, blinded by tears.

"Joe!" Adam shouted, but Joe didn't listen. He just mounted Starlight and rode out of the yard as quickly as he could, leaving Adam to stare after him sadly.

_**To Be Continued…**_

* * *

**Dick: I was talking to Little Joe just now.**

**Me: Yeah? So?**

**Dick: He wants to make sure I spank you extra-hard for torturing him like that.**

**Me: Oh, boy...**

**_Reviewer Replies_**

**cybernaut-**That's okay, we all make mistakes. :) Say, you post on the TVLand Message Boards, don't you?

**Sparrow-78-**On Panamint's behalf, I would like to say 'Thank you very much! I love compliments like that! XD'.

**Me: And yes, the second part will be coming up shortly. Much quicker than this update, I guarantee it.**

**Dick: Ready to be spanked yet, TAP?**

**Me: Er... not really...**

**Dick: GOOD!**

**(Dick chases Panamint around the room for at least twenty minutes...)**


End file.
